Otto kuphal



(No Model.)

0.KUPHAL. APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATING.

Patented Dec. '11, 1894.

A Wliwases:

inventor ff mm/zd h UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO 'KUPHAL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 530,535, dated December 11, 1894. Application filed March 22. 1893. Renewed May 5, 1894 Serial No. 510,228- (No modeh) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO KUPHAL, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Apparatus for Refrigerating, fully described and repres sented in thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, forming apart of the same.

The method and apparatus forming my inventlon are applicable for the production of cold air and ice, and generally for cooling and refrigerating purposes, including the cooling of liquids and of inclosures of all sizes, such as houses, vaults, vessels, provision safes, &c.

The principle upon which the invention is based is that of cooling by the expansion of water into water vapor, the method and apparat-us being especially designed to secure a Very high expansion of the fluid and correspondingly low temperature; the apparatus also being preferably of special construction, so that the vapor shall be removed for the continuance of the vacuum necessary, without compression of the vapor and in such a manner as to allow the freest and most rapid passage of the vapor from the expansion chamber, thus avoiding any compression of 1the vapor and aiding to secure a low temperaure.

In carrying out the inventionthe water to be evaporated is atomized by being passed through material of the requisite porosity to secure the passage of the water in a finely divided state. The water thus atomized through this porous material is evaporated from the outer surface ,of said porous material into a vacuum expansion space, the vacuum in which is produced preferably by an air'pump or similar apparatus, and the vapor thus produced is applied to the cooling of the space or material to be refrigerated, preferably by being drawn through pipes which traverse the chamber containing the air, liquid or "other material to be cooled, which chamber may be the ice chamber of an ice machine or a refrigerating chamber of any kind, or a chamber in which the cold air is held under pressure sufficient to secure its transfer to another refrigerating chamber of anykind desired.

It is evident that the invention may be eming drawings a simple and convenient construction by which a very high degree of refrigeration may be secured, which construction and certain special features therein form in themselves a part of the invention, and a full description of this apparatus will now be given, and the method and features of the construction forming the invention specifically pointed out in the claims.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical, central, section of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 2 of Fig. 1, and Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged details showing, respectively, the pipes for conveying the vapor through the space to be cooled and the pipe forming the pump connection.

Referring to said drawings:-A is .a water tight tank, preferably of metal, divided into three chambers by slabs of porous material B, B. The upper chamber a is intended for the reception of water, while the two lower chambers b, c are air tight.

.the tank D below the slanting bottom e and about the pipe f is preferably filled with nonconducting materialg.

The chamber 0 between the tanks A, D may be an ice tank, or a room, vault, vessel or provision safe of any suitable construction which is to be refrigerated, or it may be an air chamber in which air is held under a pressure slightly in excess of the atmosphere, so that the air cooled therein may be passed by such pressure to another house or; vessel of any kind to be refrigerated, the walls of this chamber being preferably double and packed with non-conducting material h, as shown, or

otherwise made heat proof.

The tanks A, D and chamber 0 have been shown as separate constructions, but it will be understood that a single construction combining them may be used and probably be found preferable, when the chamber 0 is used only as an air chamber from which the cooled air is to be drawn for use elsewhere.

Theslabs B, B, by which the tank A is divided into three chambers, may be of any suitable material of such porosity as to secure the desired atomizing of the water as it passes through, and insure the requisite rapid evaporation of this water from the lower side of the plate B. This necessitates the use of a very fine close grained porous material, and while fairly good results may be secured with other materials of the same general character, the best material now known to me is French bisque, by the use of which a verylow temperature is quickly secured.

It may be found that only one of the slabs B, B will be necessary for certain purposes for which a Very low temperature is not desired, but it will be found that the two slabs B, B are necessary when a high degree of refrigeration is required, and more than two slabs may be found desirable, and this construction forms a part of the invention. In this construction the water passes through the first slab B into chamber bin a fine spray, thus reaching the lower surface of slab B in such a finely divided state that it is evaporated with extreme rapidity.

It will be seen that in the construction shown, the lower chamber 0, pipes at and the tank D form a vacuum expansion chamber. It will be understood, however, that con structions may be used in which the pipes form the entire expansion chamber, or the chamber may be formed in any suitable manner, but the construction shown, in which the water is evaporated into a chamber and pipes connecting therewith will be found preferable in most cases.

While the pipes (1 may be of the same diameter throughout and good results be secured, they are preferably slightly conical so as to be slightly larger below than at the top, as shown in Fig. 3, thus allowing the vapor the freest movement and permitting some expansion as the vapor is drawn through the pipes by the air pump, thus avoiding all compression of the vapor in the pipes. curing the best-results it is important also that the pipes (1 should be exactly vertical, as any deviation from vertical lines tends to retard the movement of the vapor and thus may cause compression and generate heat. It will be understood, however, that while this exact vertical position is desirable and important for the best results, it is not absolutely essential, but good results may be secured without it. The slanting bottom e also aids in securing the same result as the conical form of the pipes d. It permits the vapor to expand below the chamber 0 and prevents any compression of the vapor as it is drawn For se-- downwardly into the pipe f; and the attainment of this result is aided also by the conical form of the pipe f, as shown in Fig. 4, and its slanting position. If convenient from a mechanical standpoint, it may be found desirable to pass the pipe fdownward vertically through the bottom of the tank D to the air pump, but the construction shown is de signed for places where this is inconvenient.

The operation of the apparatus will be understood from a brief description in connection with the drawings.

With the air pump in operation and water in the chamber a, the water passes through the outerslab B and falls in afine spray upon the top of the slab B. The moisture then passes through the slab B, is rapidly evaporated from the bottom of this slab into the vacuum produced by the air pump and expands to a very large volume relatively to the volume of the water. This vapor then passes through the pipes d into the conical base of the tank D and is drawn by pump F into the pump cylinders and expelled into the air. The heat within the pipes d and the chamber 0 is absorbed by this vapor and the air in the chamber 0 thus cooled to a very low degree of temperature which air may be used in the chamber or be kept under a low pressure sufiiciently strong to force it into pipes conveying it to other spaces to be refrigerated.

It will be understood that the water in the chamber a will be frozen during the operation of the machine, but this does not interfere with its operation, as the fluid evaporated from the ice isstill passed through the slabs B, B in the required quantity. If desired, ice may be placed in the chamber a originally but it is notnecessary, as it willbe found that a low temperature is secured quickly by the use of water.

With the construction shown, any suitable means may be used for keeping the water chamber a supplied, and for transferring and utilizing the air in chamber 0 when thelatter is an air chamber from which the air is to be transferred for use elsewhere. As such devices form no part of the present invention, and they may readily be applied by any one skilled in the art, it is unnecessary to illustrate or describe them herein.

It will be understood that the invention, broadly considered, may be embodied in constructions of widely different form, depending to some extent upon the results to be attained, and, while the construction shown, forms a very convenient and efficient apparatus, and is claimed as a part of the invention, I am not to be limited thereto. It will be understood, also, that this apparatus may be varied in form without changing its essential character.

What is claimed is-- 1. The-combination with a vacuum cham ber, arranged for the application of vapor therein to cooling a space or body to be re- IIO frigerated, of awater chamber separated from said vacuum chamber by porous material, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a vacuum chamber arranged for the application of vapor therein to cooling a space or body to be refrigerated, of a water chamber separated from said vacuum chamber by porous material, and a pump connecting with said vacuum chamber, substantially as described.

3. The combination with awater chamber,

of a vacuum chamber, and a plurality of separated layers of porous material between said water and vacuum chambers, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a series of pipes traversing the space or body to be refrigerated, and a vacuum pump connected with said pipes, of a water chamber, and a plurality of separated layers of porous material forming an air tight chamber or chambers between said water chamber and pipes, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a series of vertical pipes traversing the space or body to be refrigerated, and a vacuum pump connected with said pipes, of a water chamber, and a plurality of separated layers of porous material forming an air tight chamber or cham bers between said water chamber and pipes, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a series of pipes traversing the space or body to be refrigerated and a vacuum pump connected with said pipes, said pipes being enlarged toward the vacuum pump, of a water chamber and a plurality of separated layers of porous material forming an air tight chamber or chambers between said Water chamber and pipes, substantially as described.

7. The combination with the chamber 0, of tanks A, D, slabs of porous material dividing the tank A into a water chamber and air tight chambers, pipes at connecting the inner air tight chamber with tank D, and a vacuum pump connected with the tank D, substantially as described.

8. The combination with the chamber 0 traversed by vertical pipes d, of the tanks A, D respectively above and below the chamber and connected by said pipes at, slabs of porous material dividing said upper tank A into a water chamber and lower air tight chambers, with the lowest of which the vertical pipes (1 connect, and a vacuum pump connected with the tank D, substantially as described.

9. The combination with chamber 0 traversed by vertical conical pipes d having their larger diameter below, of the tanks A, D respectively above and below the chamber and connected by said pipes, said upper tank A containing an upper water chamber separated by porous material from a lower air tight chamber with which the vertical pipes 11 connect, and a vacuum pump connected with the tank D, substantially as described.

10. The combination with the chamber 0 traversed by vertical conical pipes 01 having their larger diameter below, of the tanks A, D respectively above and below the chamber and connected by said pipes, said upper tank A containing an upper water chamber sepa' rated by porous material from a lower air tight chamber with which the vertical pipes 11 connect, tank D having a slanting bottom e, and a vacuum pump connected with the tank D, substantially as described.

11. The combination with the chamber 0 traversed by vertical conical pipesd having their larger diameter below, of the tanks A, D respectively above and below the chamber and connected by said pipes, saidupper tank A containing an upper water chamber separated by porous material from alower air tight chamber with which the vertical pipes 01 connect, tank D and a vacuum pump connected with said tank D by conical pipe f, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OTTO KUPHAL. 

